I feel like the injuries we have been hit with this year to our stars might have brought back a hungry, fun and enthusiastic team full of youngsters that have a chip on their shoulders. The kind of team Pete loves and can will with his coaching style.

I see similarities coming back to this team to what we had from 2013-15 and missed seeing this passionate football since Sherman, Chancellor, Bennett, etc became superstars.

I like what Richard Seymour had to say. Basically said maybe it's time to stop talking about who the Hawks DON'T have, and start talking about who they DO have. Very good point. Dwelling on players who are not coming back doesn't help a thing.

Last edited by SoulfishHawk on Thu Dec 07, 2017 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

northseahawk wrote:I feel like the injuries we have been hit with this year to our stars might have brought back a hungry, fun and enthusiastic team full of youngsters that have a chip on their shoulders. The kind of team Pete loves and can will with his coaching style.

I see similarities coming back to this team to what we had from 2013-15 and missed seeing this passionate football since Sherman, Chancellor, Bennett, etc became superstars.

I don't know if it shows theyre hungrier or more enthusiastic than Kam, Sherm and Avril as those guys are always slapping people on the back and pumping up the jam. I think what it says is JS and PC have done a good job of refilling the tank. We would be in a world of hurt without Shaq, Clark and McDougald.

Russell has some stats that aren't Superb? Ow! Love his balls anyways!

I mentioned this in another thread but at least in the case of Sherman I think it is actually a sort of "blessing in disguise". Sherman admitted he was playing hurt and didn't have burst to play like he needed to. He even said the play he tore his Achilles he tried to accelerate to the ball like he'd not been doing because he knew it would go. I know some people are going to say that still a hurt Sherman is better than most CB's but I think that really depends on the injury. I don't think Sherman would be better than who we have now playing on the outside if he was still playing with the Achilles.

The only blessing I see is the rash of injuries has forced us to go out and get some very good players (Brown, Sheldon, etc)...........and hammered home to Pete that he's not going to continue to win with a ball control running offense.

He's allowed Wilson to be the focal point of the offense. Not only has that helped Russell, but it's helped guys like Graham, Richardson, Carson/Davis etc to become far more productive.

That's the blessing I see, hopefully a changing of scheme and philosophy on the offensive side of the ball that was much needed.

Looking at the roster, we have only a handful of starters with SB rings right now. The rest are hungry. That's a good thing IMO.Wilson, Baldwin, Earl, Bobby, KJ, Bennett, Maxwell. Everyone else wants the shiny and to prove themselves on the big stage.

The thing I like best about it Is that it silences to a degree the opinion that our team is getting old and declining. We've had to move on without 3 of the 'old guard' on D and in my opinion, we're still a contender. Bennet is a couple of steps beyond his prime, but is still a beast. Russ, wags, adb and the majority of the skill players on O are still on the upswing (minus Graham).

Also agree that the combination of being overlooked since early this year and now having young, hungry players looking to make a name for themselves as reinvigorated the team.

So do people think we still suck at the draft thing? When we can replace players without missing much. Depth is wheat makes or breaks teams down the stretch. Lets hope the trend continues and we get solid productivity out of our second string.

DJrmb wrote:I mentioned this in another thread but at least in the case of Sherman I think it is actually a sort of "blessing in disguise". Sherman admitted he was playing hurt and didn't have burst to play like he needed to. He even said the play he tore his Achilles he tried to accelerate to the ball like he'd not been doing because he knew it would go. I know some people are going to say that still a hurt Sherman is better than most CB's but I think that really depends on the injury. I don't think Sherman would be better than who we have now playing on the outside if he was still playing with the Achilles.

AGREEEEED! I love me some Richie Sherman, but he's been a liability in some games with his injuries hampering.His mind HAS BEEN ELITE at CB, his body...Not so much.Sherm on the sidelines can and has imparted some outstanding WISDOM on how to maximize at the CB position.

I was thinking the injuries have forced Pete to shift to a more aggressive offensive game plan.He can no longer rely on a dominating defense and strong running game to win. He has no choice but to let Wilson off his leash and carry the team.

One thing I've noticed is that Rookies can be inconsistent. Going on the "Road" and playing in a negative atmosphere is more difficult than playing at Home. I pray that the young players can find the spirit that pushed them to victory this past Sunday against the Eagles.

Obviously Maxwell is a huge drop off from Sherm, and Lane is not as good as Shaq, so I see a huge difference with those changes, But is it just me, cuz I'm not seeing a huge drop off in the run game with Kam not in there, and I'm certainly seeing much better SS coverage? Love Kam, but I'm not missing him being sidelined like I thought I would. Just an observation.

All it really did was just confirm that Earl Thomas is the most important part of this defensive system. Just look at the complete collapse of the defense last season. The first blowouts of the PC era occurred because Thomas was a out.